Kevin Pimlett
CV and LinkedIn profile writing
Kevin Pimlett
“I’m not a word person and would have undersold myself on paper, so I knew I needed the help of an experienced CV writer.”
Background
In summer 2023, Kevin was informed his role was at risk of redundancy.
He decided to be proactive and get a head start by updating his CV before any decisions were made.
He asked around his close friendship group for recommendations. A trusted mutual friend recommended he speak to me and made the introduction.
The brief
Kevin and I first spoke in August 2023 for an informal chat about his goals and expectations.
Kevin explained he is a numbers whiz, but the written word is not one of his strengths, so was seeking the help of an experienced CV writer.
I explained my process for both CV and LinkedIn profile writing. Kevin said he wanted to apply for a couple of internal roles with deadlines within the next two weeks.
At the end of our conversation I challenged him to go away and research the type of role he was looking for and share some role profiles with me prior to our briefing.
Kevin sent me his existing CV to review and I made a list of questions in preparation for our zoom call. He also shared links to external roles that peaked his interest, which helped me not only to understand his ambition, but also with the keywords to include in his LinkedIn profile and CV. One week later, Kevin and I chatted on zoom and we discussed in detail his experience, qualifications, skills, qualities, and how he demonstrates these in his work. We talked about what attracted him to the roles he was applying for and about his career aspirations.
I drafted his updated CV whilst the information was fresh in my mind. Kevin responded with the feedback that it read really well and the content was great, but felt it lacked some of his personality. We arranged another call to chat through his personal interests and how we could inject more individuality into the copy. I made the changes and returned an updated version which Kevin was happy with. He then decided to ask a graphic designer to give the words more visual appeal to help him stand out from the crowd.
Once his CV was finalised, I drafted his LinkedIn profile incorporating the same messages and keywords he wanted to be found with. The whole process took three weeks from start to finish.
The process
Outcomes
Kevin updated his LinkedIn profile and began using his new CV at the beginning of September. On 1st December 2023, Kevin started a BI Visualisation Lead role and is now managing a team of 14 people.
He was selective and only applied for five roles - two internal and three external. He was shortlisted and invited for interviews for all five.
Kevin was also head-hunted on LinkedIn twice after updating his profile. He used his CV as evidence for salary negotiations and to land an interview after a vacancy with 300 applicants had already closed. His updated CV and LinkedIn profile gave him options and a choice of new roles.
Kevin says…
I went into the conversation without any expectations. I was very open-minded. I just wanted to give myself the best opportunities. My finished CV speaks for itself. It has smashed open doors for me.
We had an introductory chat where Lucy explained how her process worked. This gave me a real confidence boost. In the run up to our briefing meeting, Lucy sent me some homework to explore available roles and find some I liked the look of and might be interested in applying for.
Lucy keeps the conversation very relaxed, there’s no need to prepare anything beforehand and you never feel like you’re under a spotlight. It flows easily, she’s very personable and I really enjoyed our conversation. It left me feeling confident, refreshed, and with a new awareness of my own capabilities.
My first impressions of the first draft were really positive. I couldn’t believe how much she captured of my achievements and aspiration from an hour’s conversation. I saw bits of me and my ambitions. It just needed a splash more personality to make it mine. We worked together to add more of my human side. Once this was agreed, Lucy moved on to draft my LinkedIn profile and sent it to me to upload.
I asked someone else to work on my CV and their version was nowhere near as good as the one Lucy wrote. If you’re not great at selling yourself on paper, you need to speak to Lucy - she’s a wizard!